USCGC Bertholf (WMSL-750) |
|
| Career (USCG) | |
|---|---|
| Namesake: | Commodore Ellsworth P. Bertholf, USCG |
| Ordered: | January 2001 |
| Builder: | Northrop Grumman Ship Systems, Pascagoula, Mississippi |
| Cost: | $641 million[1] |
| Laid down: | March 29, 2005 |
| Launched: | September 29, 2006 |
| Christened: | November 11, 2006 |
| Commissioned: | August 4, 2008 |
| Homeport: | Integrated Support Command Alameda |
| Motto: | "Legends Begin Here" |
| Status: | Commissioned |
| Badge: | |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | National Security Cutter |
| Displacement: | 4500 LT |
| Length: | 418 feet (127.40 meters) |
| Beam: | 54 feet (16.46 meters) |
| Draft: | 30 feet (9.14 meters) |
| Propulsion: | Combined diesel and gas 2 × 7.400 kW diesel engines 1 × 22.000 kW gas turbine engine[2] |
| Speed: | 28+ knots |
| Range: | 12,000 nm |
| Complement: | 113 (14 Officers) |
| Sensors and processing systems: |
EADS 3D TRS-16 Air Search Radar SPQ-9B Fire Control Radar AN/SPS-73 Surface Search Radar AN/SLQ-32 |
| Electronic warfare and decoys: |
AN/SLQ-32 Electronic Warfare System 2 SRBOC/ 2 NULKA countermeasures chaff/rapid decoy launcher |
| Armament: | 57 mm gun and Gunfire Control System Close-In Weapons System 4 50 Caliber Machine Guns 2 M240B 7.62mm Light Machine Guns |
| Aircraft carried: | (2) MH-65C Dolphin MCH, or (4) VUAV or (1) MH-65C Dolphin MCH and (2) VUAV |
| Aviation facilities: | 50x80 foot flight deck, hangar for all aircraft |
USCGC Bertholf (WMSL 750) is the first Legend-class maritime security cutter of the United States Coast Guard. She is named for Commodore Ellsworth P. Bertholf, fourth Commandant of both the Revenue Cutter Service and Coast Guard.
In 2005, construction began at Northrop Grumman's Ship Systems Ingalls Shipyard in Pascagoula, Mississippi. She was launched on September 29, 2006,[3] christened November 11, 2006,[4] and commissioned on August 4, 2008. The cutter's home port is Alameda, California. Bertholf was the first to fire the Bofors 57 mm gun aboard a U.S. vessel on the 11th of February 2008 by Electronics Technician First Class Matthew Magaro.[1]
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The Bertholf is the lead ship of the National Security Cutter design and the first large ship to be built under the Coast Guard's multi-year Deepwater acquisitions project. The NSCs are to replace the fleet's aging 378-foot Hamilton-class cutters.
The Deepwater program was subjected to public scrutiny in late 2006 and early 2007 following reports of overspending and design flaws. Specifically, the issues with the Bertholf relate to the projected life of the ship. Originally the Coast Guard had expected the cutter to be a single-crew vessel, and spend a normal amount of time in port and underway. However, the US Coast Guard decided to implement a multi-crew system, similar but distinct to what the US Navy uses on its ballistic missile submarines. Rather than the Navy's system of two crews sharing a single hull, the CG multi-crew concept involve both multiple crews and multiple hulls. The addition of the multi-crewing enables the ship to spend more time at sea each year, but also decreases the expected lifespan of the vessel from 30 years to 20 years.